screw type log splitters

[predator]

Can i ask are they any good with arb waste please ??

 

What i mean is dry seasoned old knotty hard as hell stuff or are they best used for the cream wood cord etc i would guess it would have to have a decent hp engine running them etc thus counter productive as a hyd is slower but can use a smaller engine less fuel etc there just sloooooooooower i know

 

as stated marmite lol

[Breezeblock]

ours is now finished we had a 6hp diesel in it and it was mega fast on smallstuff you couldn't keep up with it but larger knottier stuff i.e. arb waste was a pain forever stalling it we've now fitted a 16hp wing wang 2 cocks honda copy and its now excellent

[treequip]

Look, I don't want to cause an argument, but someone who has broken his thumbs 10 times is not experienced, he is very inexperienced.

 

 

Not inexperienced just bad experience(es)

 

 

Cone splitters generally don't have an emergency stop and the nature of the design requires you to have your hands in the mix. When they bight, they really do bight.

 

I saw an old boy try to kick a stubborn log onto the cone, he missed and the cone screwed itself between the sole of his boot and his foot. He couldn't stop the machine and just had to wait (and scream) until it bust his boot off his foot breaking many of those little bones in his foot as it went.

 

When there have been enough accidents (reported) the HSE will inevitably turn their gaze to these machines as they did with the chipper in feed situation.

 

On the up side a cone mounted on a crane or 360 is a magnificent tool.

[bobh]

Not inexperienced just bad experience(es)

 

 

 

 

I saw an old boy try to kick a stubborn log onto the cone, he missed and the cone screwed itself between the sole of his boot and his foot. He couldn't stop the machine and just had to wait (and scream) until it bust his boot off his foot breaking many of those little bones in his foot as it went.

 

Then he was an idiot! Not a lot anyone can do to stop people like that trying to kill themselves.

On a hycrack if you keep the point of the cone just to the left of the centre of the log and only place your hands at the back and left of the log it WILL NOT bite you, in fact most of the time you end up letting go of the log as soon as the point has taken hold, it then just pulls itself on.

As I say this is on a hycrack, can't speak for other types of cone splitter.

[LoadhandlerUK]

There are well over 6000 Hycracks out there in the UK - and I would reckon from the feedback we have that the majority are in constant use. They've been around for over 30 years and we have people every day of the week asking how to convert the old, obsolete styles: Spenco, Sparex, Wilson, Bark Buster etc to accept Hycrack cones and tips.

 

As I said in an earlier post, they are the Marmite of splitters and posts like this run on every forum that has an interest in machinery. They are efficient and well built and as I've said before the plethora of copy cones, open shafts and bearings and all sorts of drive mechanisms are the real concern if a d.i.y. machine is sold on (as some have been) - we saw one recently that had an imported cone welded (out of true) to a shaft with plummer blocks bolted to a plate and the customer brought it to us 'to try and see why the bearings were worn out'. As a pure side issue, the Hycrack is one of the only machines I know that in a well worn state, some twenty years after it was purchased, is worth almost twice what the original owner gave for it.

 

I see both sides of the story but it's each to his own; you either love 'em or hate 'em

[treequip]

Then he was an idiot! Not a lot anyone can do to stop people like that trying to kill themselves.

On a hycrack if you keep the point of the cone just to the left of the centre of the log and only place your hands at the back and left of the log it WILL NOT bite you, in fact most of the time you end up letting go of the log as soon as the point has taken hold, it then just pulls itself on.

As I say this is on a hycrack, can't speak for other types of cone splitter.

 

It matters not how stupid he was or wasn't, what's important is the fact that you have to have your hands in there and there is no emergency stop in the event it does go wrong.

[Logsnstuff]

Look, I don't want to cause an argument, but someone who has broken his thumbs 10 times is not experienced, he is very inexperienced. The Hycrack is a fantastic piece of very simple engineering. All it needs is regular greasing and a new tip every few years. And I've been cutting firewood for almost as long as your friend, sad to say.

 

you are assuming its a hycrack hes using I have no idea what brand, I'm simply putting forward what happened to someone who used that style of splitter, you have been lucky with no injury he was unlucky with many I'm indifferent to what splitter you use just think you should be aware of what can happen, maybe as someone else has posted his is out of allignment.

 

there was a contractor 12 15 miles from me who died when a stick came through the floor of his county or my grandfather lost a kidney when he was hit with a log skylining back in the 70's its not to say drive a county your guaranteed to get a log in the crotch or try skylining you will lose some organs just be aware possible dangers is all.

[Cosmiccrofter]

It matters not how stupid he was or wasn't, what's important is the fact that you have to have your hands in there and there is no emergency stop in the event it does go wrong.

 

No you don't need your hands in there, and there is an emergency stop.

[Cosmiccrofter]

you are assuming its a hycrack hes using I have no idea what brand, I'm simply putting forward what happened to someone who used that style of splitter, you have been lucky with no injury he was unlucky with many I'm indifferent to what splitter you use just think you should be aware of what can happen, maybe as someone else has posted his is out of allignment.

 

there was a contractor 12 15 miles from me who died when a stick came through the floor of his county or my grandfather lost a kidney when he was hit with a log skylining back in the 70's its not to say drive a county your guaranteed to get a log in the crotch or try skylining you will lose some organs just be aware possible dangers is all.

 

No I haven't been lucky, I'm just experienced with the Hycrack and know how to operate it safely. Every piece of machinery attached to a tractor has the potential to harm you, it's all about knowing them and avoiding them.

[richardwale]

We had a hycrack. They split anything, occasionally you would need to tap a knarly bit off but generally it was superb. You really do need to watch that wood EVERYTIME you feed it onto the spike. I never hurt myself, but by god, there were times I was bloody close. My fault of course, but my advice would be just be very very careful and you'll be fine. But like using a chainsaw really, treat the kit with loads of respect and you'll be ok.